Vacation?

So we thought that if we moved from Texas right away we would have a nice vacation living with our families for a while before we moved on the our intern year.

WE KNEW OUR VACATION WAS TOO LONG WHEN....

The Girls Started Driving!!!

• Anne learned to climb up and down stairs shortly after crawling.
• Anne can "Moo" like the cows and "Woof" like the dogs.
• Anne started walking.
• Anne started vacation with no teeth....Number 6 cut through yesterday!
• Anne understands that "no" means you shake your head vigorously and wave your index finger... "no" is becoming our favorite word!
  

• Grace thinks that watching a movie is something she absolutely needs.
• Grace learned that when mom and dad say "no" it really means....ask an aunt, uncle, cousin, or grandparent until someone gives you want you want. I think her record is three popcicles in a row and a triple feature on the sofa with a movie!!! YIKES!!! Oh well, I'm glad she is loved.
• Grace realizes that "time outs" are for those who break the rules. Poor Anne is in time out by both mom and Grace. (Anne will soon learn that standing in the corner like Grace really isn't fun, but for now she even gives herself a time out.)

• I made a wall hanging with instructions from a quilting professional (if anyone needs help binding or doing mitered corners I learned a quick fool proof way!!!) Why did this make the list you ask....Have you ever known me to finish a project immediately?!?
• I went from one key on my key chain to....7!!! New apartment key, club house key, mail key, second car key(yes we even purchased another set of wheels) and a few other keys I hope to remember before the day is through!

• Our neighbor painted the entire inside of her house (by herself with three young children at home).
• We went on vacation from our vacation!!! Yep, we flew to Texas with Edwin's parents for Edwin's graduation. It was a quick trip, but thankfully Edwin's sister accommedated us by having her baby just early enough to bring him home from the hospital for us to hold!!! Thanks to Morey and Jodie for letting us stay the two nights and for reminding us that true friendship means you don't have to stay in constant contact to be good friends...it just helps.
  


• Edwin started vacation as a student and ended vacation as a Doctor!
• Edwin pieced together an entire queen size quilt...200+ pieces! It's beautiful.
• Edwin opted to work out of town Sunday through Friday the last three weeks of vacation....we were obviously vacationing TOO LONG!!!

Ahhh....Relief

Well, we are officially here. Moved in? Not in the least!!! I left Texas on April 09th with Grace and Anne. It's been a long stretch to get into our own place, but we are finally here. We were glad to spend time with our family, but boy oh boy it's tough putting together a house with two little ones and a husband who is working day and night (not to mention the fact that the closet flooded before we unpacked everything....I spent the evening using the blow dryer to get the water out of the closet.) Nothing was ruined, the closet was smelly and wet and no one knows where the water source is located. Just a irritating thing when you have so much to do already.

I'm glad to be back online in my own home with my computer. There is something very soothing for me to sit and write. I have missed this very much...hopefully I will be back to posting weekly in no time flat.

As for now I've got to get my night owl to bed so we can all sleep....Edwin works overnight tomorrow and I need to get everyone packed for the weekend wedding back at home. There's nothing like unpacking to repack! We will be here to stay soon (I hope....but anything can call us home these days).

I hope all has been well with other fellow bloggers, but time will tell as I begin to catch up on your lives....so POST POST POST!!!!

Smiles for Everyone

My Big Brother Bill.
Bill, Britney, Grace and Anne with Bill's red truck. We spent the weekend together while Edwin and I found a new place to call home. We will be moving across the state in a few weeks and I'm super excited to post pictures of our new little oasis.

During our weekend we caught a tee ball game. Go Tanner!
(Tanner 6 years old)

My Sister Karen with her baby Gabe (1 1/2 years old) and our nephew Jackson (3 months)

Great Grandma just turned 83 on the 29th of April. Happy Birthday Great Grandma!

Adrian is the foreign exchange student living with Edwin's family. He watches the kids, feeds the cows, drives the tractor, and is generally a great guy! We are excited his family is coming next week, but we are sad they will be taking him home to Belgium! We love Adrian!

Grace's favorite place to play outside. And this is what her hair looks like in the cold dry climate.

Grace and Anne drive Grandpa's tractor! Some days we get nice weather, but then again we saw snow on the 13th of May. The girls are outgrowing their winter clothes....who thought we'd need them this late in the year? They are also cutting lots of teeth. Grace is getting her two year molars and Anne is cutting her top teeth. Anne is learning to walk and has successfully climbed the stairs in both directions.

We have all been busy with planning Maria's wedding (Edwin's sister) getting ready for Graduation in Texas next week, looking for a new home, and the other miscellaneous things we have chosen to do (quilting, refinishing furniture, making Christmas gifts, sewing dresses, cleaning for company, visiting family and friends). There is always something to do and we are happy to be with our family we love so much.

Bikes, Blankets, and Babies

We promised Grace a new bike once we arrived in Idaho. We are in Idaho and she has a new tricycle!!! For months we have heard her plans to buy a pink bike with white tires. Well she has a pink and purple tricycle with white tires!!! I felt very sad for her after we purchased the bike because it began snowing again. Ah, lovely Idaho has snow in April. With the drop in temperature it was too cold to play outside on the new bike and then poor Grace was quite ill. She ran a high fever for a week with a few other symptoms. Our days consisted of Grace laying on the sofa from morning until night eating and drinking little. Her greatest comfort was snuggling with mom or dad (depending on the time of day and her current mood) and watching Beauty and the Beast. Once again the weather has changed so we have spent a bit more time outside feeding the new baby calves at Grandma's house, riding the bike as much as possible, and jumping on the trampoline.

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Anne is on the brink of walking. She can take several steps when she in distracted, but mostly she does several squats before deciding to sit down and crawl to her desired destination. Thankfully Anne has been in good health. She enjoys playing with all the pets and climbing up and down the stairs (and boy are there a lot of stairs to choose from between both of the grandparents' homes. ) It is nice to have both families so close together. When the weather is warm we get into the double stroller (thanks Joe and Suzanne) and walk from one house to the next. The walk is pretty short, but Anne often falls asleep just before we arrive at our chosen home. I think she would prefer either a walk that is shorter or significantly longer than our three blocks so she could get an adequate nap or no nap until we arrived. But this falling asleep for five minutes is challenging!

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Edwin has begun quilting! For his birthday I took him to the fabric store and we picked out a quilt that he wanted to make. So with an instruction booklet in hand and several yards of fabric we headed home to quilt. One of Edwin's goals has been to make a quilt and to hand quilt it. He thought that he would have ample time this year with an easy school load. However, with a new baby and the busy interview trail and a road trip across the country with the family for Christmas time went by quite quickly. So I figured this was the perfect way for Edwin to feel success in completing a goal and it would give him something to do in the evenings. Our friend Sara came over to teach him the basics about piecing together quilt blocks. With lesson one out of the way Edwin has been sewing away! He is hoping to get the entire quilt done before he starts residency in June. Happy Birthday Edwin!

My little brother Tim blessed his baby earlier this month. It has been 8 years since my siblings and I were all in the same place at the same time. My three brothers with their families came, but my sister unfortunately ended up in the doctor's office with a sick baby and then with a sick husband. She was unable to come.... but we had a great weekend anyway!

It is so good to be near our family!!! This is why we left Texas so soon.

The Transition

I'd like to have pictures up to show all of our adventures during the past week, but with my computer at one house and the camera at another.....Pictures will have to wait. We survived the airplane ride. Two kids and one air sick mom makes for an interesting day. However everything went well, we arrived in Idaho safely. HUGS FOR EVERYONE!!! I haven't quit blogging....I'm just hindered a bit by location and technology. I will post MORE soon!!!